DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR was just following its policy when it awarded Denny Hamlin a free pass after debris from his shredded tire rolled across the track and hit Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car last Saturday at Kentucky Speedway.

Hamlin suffered a tire problem early in the race and as he pitted, his tire came apart and part of hit the cars of leaders Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson quickly recovered, but Earnhardt struggled with damage to his car and finished 12th.

Denny Hamlin got the free pass at Kentucky, despite the fact that it was his tire that brought out the caution flag. (AP Photo)

At the time on his in-car radio, Earnhardt questioned whether Hamlin should get the free pass — which allows a driver to get back onto the lead lap — because it was debris from his tire that brought out the caution flag.

NASCAR has a rule that prevents drivers from trying to bring out a caution flag in order to get the free pass, which allows the first car one lap down to pass the pace car and get back onto the lead lap.

The rule reads:

“A car is not eligible to receive the ‘Free Pass’ when, in the judgment of NASCAR Officials, the car was involved in, or the reason for the caution.”

Typically NASCAR enforces the rule when a driver is involved in the start of an accident that brings out the caution. The interpretation of the rule has never been to include debris, NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Thursday.

“The debris causes the caution, not (the car),” Pemberton said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. “That’s the way we’ve looked at it for years since I can remember.

“Debris is debris.”

Typically when it comes to debris, NASCAR often does not know where the debris came from. NASCAR has a separate rule to penalize a driver if it is clear that the driver deliberately caused the caution.

“If somebody wings something out of the window, that’s a different story,” Pemberton said. “But if it is something that falls off of the car, then it is what it is.”